Reading the report
Is an EPC a home survey?
An Energy Performance Certificate rates energy efficiency from A to G. GOV.UK says you need one when selling, renting or building a new home, with exceptions, and that it lasts 10 years. It is not a RICS Home Survey or a condition rating. A high grade is not a sound roof, and a low grade is not a failed structure.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless a source says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is an EPC actually measuring?
Energy performance: how the model thinks the building will use energy, from the fabric and services data the assessor records. GOV.UK says it also suggests improvements. It does not open the walls, it does not rate damp, and it does not tell you the boiler is safe. A boiler that is new can lift the letter and still be a gas-safety question. A boiler that is old can drag the letter and still be working. Condition is the survey.
Typical energy costs printed on the certificate are the model’s, on the assumptions of that document. They are not your bill.
When do you have to have one?
GOV.UK’s selling guidance says you must have an EPC when selling, renting out, or building a new property, and that you must order it before you market to buyers or tenants. It also says there are cases where you do not need one, on that same page. Read the exceptions there rather than from memory. Scotland’s display rules are mentioned separately by GOV.UK; do not mix them into an English listing.
A Home Report in Scotland includes an EPC as one part of a larger pack. The EPC page of the pack is still not the Single Survey.
Should you do every improvement on the certificate?
No. The recommendations are options the methodology produces. Some are sensible. Some are wrong for a listed building, a timber frame, or a house with damp. Spray foam and solid-wall insulation are the examples we already warn about in their own guides. An EPC recommendation does not override listed building consent, and it does not override a surveyor who has seen moisture.
If you do the work, building regulations may apply. The certificate does not approve the installation.
How do you read an EPC next to a home survey?
Keep the letters apart. A is not rating 1. G is not rating 3. If the survey says the roof is tired and the EPC recommends insulation in that roof, solve the leak before you bury it. If the EPC is old, GOV.UK’s ten-year validity tells you whether it can still be used for marketing. It does not tell you the boiler has been serviced in those ten years.
Give both documents to your solicitor if they ask. Do not staple them together and call them a survey.
Common questions
Can you skip a Level 2 because the EPC is a B?
No. The B is energy. The Level 2 would have been condition. A new, efficient, badly built house can score well and still have defects. A draught is sometimes a rating and sometimes a ventilation path. The survey separates them. The EPC averages them into a model.
The EPC is 11 years old. Can you use it?
GOV.UK says an EPC is valid for 10 years. After that you need a new one from an accredited assessor before you market, if the duty applies. The old certificate can still be read as history. It is not current.
Will your RICS surveyor produce the EPC?
Only if they are also an accredited assessor and you instruct that service. A Home Survey does not include an EPC as standard. Ask. Do not expect the rating letter at the back of a Level 3.
The EPC says replace the windows and the house is listed.
Then consent may be needed, and the recommendation may be inappropriate. Read the listed-building guide. An assessor is not the conservation officer.
The EPC recommends insulation and a salesperson offered spray foam.
Stop. Spray foam has its own guide because it can hide the roof timbers and worry lenders. An EPC line is not an instruction to spray. Get advice that has seen the roof.
A new home has an EPC. Does that replace snagging?
No. New homes are assessed for energy as part of being built. Snagging and warranties are the new-build page. The letter on the EPC is not a snagging list.
What is the fine for marketing without an EPC?
GOV.UK says you can be fined. The amount and the enforcement sit on the official page and can change. We are not copying a figure into a survey guide for it to go stale. Follow that page if you are the seller.
Does a low EPC stop you buying?
Not by itself. Minimum energy standards for private renting are a landlord’s duty when they apply, and they are a different regime from a buyer’s survey. If you will need to let the home, ask your solicitor what standard applies. Do not treat a D as a defect rating.
Sources
Key facts
- Scale
- GOV.UK: A, best, to G, worst, for energy efficiency. Not 1, 2, 3 or NI.
- Validity
- GOV.UK: an EPC is valid for 10 years. You must order one for buyers or tenants before you market, when the rules apply.
- Contents
- GOV.UK: information about energy use and typical energy costs, and steps that could improve efficiency. Those steps are not a specification and not a quote.
- Who does it
- An accredited energy assessor, not necessarily the surveyor who does the Home Survey. The two visits can happen on different days.
- Fines
- GOV.UK says you can be fined for not having an EPC when you need one. That is an administrative penalty, not a repair cost.